Book chapter
Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Great Lakes
Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Great Lakes, pp.13-70
The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Springer Berlin Heidelberg
01/13/2006
DOI: 10.1007/698_5_039
Abstract
This chapter reviews the scientific understanding of the concentrations, trends, and cycling
of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Great Lakes. PCBs were widely used in the Great Lakes
region primarily as additives to oils and industrial fluids, such as dielectric fluids in transformers.
PCBs are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic to animals and humans. The compounds were first reported
in the Great Lakes natural environment in the late 1960s. At that time, PCB production and use was
near the maximum level in North America. Since then, inputs of PCBs to the Great Lakes have peaked
and declined: sediment profiles and analyses of archived fish indicate that PCB concentrations have
decreased markedly in the decades following the phase-out in the 1970s. Unfortunately, concentrations
in some fish species remain too high for unrestricted safe consumption. PCB concentrations remain
high in fish because of their persistence, tendency to bioaccumulate, and the continuing input of
the compounds from uncontrolled sources. PCBs are highly bioaccumulative and many studies have shown
that the complex food webs of the Great Lakes contribute to the focusing of PCBs in fish and fish-eating
animals. PCB concentrations in the open waters are in the range of 100–300 pg L−1,
and are near equilibrium with the regional atmosphere. PCBs are hydrophobic yet are found in the
dissolved phase of the water column and in the gas phase in the atmosphere, and they continue to enter
the Great Lakes environment. The atmosphere, especially near urban-industrial areas, is the major
source to the open waters of the lakes. Other sources include contaminated tributaries and in-lake
recycling of contaminated sediments. Until these remaining sources are controlled or contained, unsafe
levels of PCBs will be found in the Great Lakes environment for decades to come.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Great Lakes
- Creators
- Keri C Hornbuckle - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USADaniel L Carlson - Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USADeborah L Swackhamer - Water Resources Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, USAJoel E Baker - University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, USASteven J Eisenreich - European Commission, Joint Research Centre Ispra European Chemicals Bureau, Ispra, Italy
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Great Lakes, pp.13-70
- Publisher
- Springer Berlin Heidelberg; Berlin, Heidelberg
- Series
- The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry
- DOI
- 10.1007/698_5_039
- ISSN
- 1433-6863
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/13/2006
- Academic Unit
- Iowa Superfund Research Program; Occupational and Environmental Health; Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9983997969002771
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